Father and son fun at Mendo

I had swapped email with Pescadore about hitting Mendo on Sunday with his son and a friend of his son's.  Jelly had also asked if his buddy Parker, and Parker's dad could try yak fishing.  What the heck!  We put a Gator hatch on an eXtreme for Parker and his dad and we headed off to the lake.  Intel had fish schooling in the north end, and a snotty south end made the call e-z.  We launched and headed towards Bushay Point.  As we rounded the point I was marking a lot of fish right off of the bottom in 20 feet of water.  The PERFECT scenario for trolling bait.

We worked the point for about 15 minutes and my rod went bendo.  A nice pb'er took some photos and emailed them to me.

Bendo...



Got it to the boat, a nice frisky 7 pounder.  Kept this one for dinner...




Trolled another 20 minutes or so and I got whacked again, this time by a slightly bigger fish.  I released it only to find a REALLY sad Parker in the Gator Hatch.  Apparently he really wanted to bring a fish home.  I promised him the next fish.  He didn't have to wait too long and I went bendo AGAIN!

I paddled over to Parker and handed him a live rod.  The striper was still hot and  it yanked him all over the place.  He was grinning ear to ear as the rod tip kept lunging into the water.  He had only caught bluegill before today, he noticed the difference!  After a while he finally got it to the boat and I lipped it for him.  He wasn't mad at me anymore!  What a riot to watch a little guy get worked by a hot fall fish. His dad was mighty proud.



Pescadore started working the same area and his son's rod went off next.  His son's Scupper was doing donuts...striper rodeo!  Pescadore paddled over to give his newbie son an assist.  



A few minutes another nice striper onboard.  Heck of a first fish!



Me and Jelly started working a big school I had marked and his rod went off and then so did mine.  Jelly's fish took off like train...his 14# flouro leader snapped...holy cow!  He was heart broken so I passed him my fish.  This fish was also strong as heck and Jelly's Tourer was off on the tow.  After a nice long fight he got it to the boat.



Jelly swung it into the boat and I could tell it was a nice one.



Oh yeah!  This one had me sweating my jackpot.  10 pounds even on the scale.  Jelly was happy.



But the fun wasn't over!!  Pescadore moved into the same school and before long I could hear him hooping and hollerin'.  Dave was on for a long time and was screaming his head off.  It was hilarious because we caught all of these fish RIGHT in front (but just out of range) of a few bankies who were catching a whole lot of nothing.  Dave's joy was enough to send the bankies packing in disgust.

Dave got his to the boat, and it was another nice 8 pounder.  What a day!



The wind came up so we decided to pull the plug at around 1:00. Back at the launch the boys posed with their fish.



Just about then the bankies showed up to find out about our "canoes".  They were stunned by the quality of the fish.  I passed them a card, and told them about ncka...more converts in the making.

Great day on the water, really enjoyed watching all of the kids have such a great time.  Really glad to see Mendo like her old self.

brother = I'm there next week!! Thanks for the report / great pics

The kids smiles tell the story.
Jack

I don't think it gets any better than that.  What a day.  I can't wait till my little one is old enough to fish!
Jason

Hey Jelly next time get someone who is NOT leading the pool to weigh your fish!  

Looks like fun I would love to make it up for one last run before winter sets in.

Thanks guys...I weighed it fair and square...honest   .  Hopefully it stays good.  All of the fish today were very strong and heavy for their size.  Where ever they have been, they have been eating well.

Boy Scouts never had it so good, way to go guys. I guess I blew it I was planning on fishing there Sun. but put it off a week. Well I'll be there next week.

WTG guys!

Great Report.. this is the Mendo I remember!!!

Wow... Sean.  You created some unforgettable memories for some good people.     That's Karma showing its appreciation to you for hooking these guys up!

After Sean left, the kids picked up 2 more.  This one was 14 lbs on my bathroom scale.

Here's two stoked kids.  Between them they got 3 fish, 10 - 14 lbs.  They had to double up on the big one, and it still took 15 minutes to land.  Towed them all over the lake.  They were using a little cheapy spinning reel that was almost completely spooled at one point.  Sean, my son and I thank you!

Nice!  That biggie is a slob!!!  Parker was talking about his fish all night.

Wow that is a nice fish!!! Now I know I am going to lose WAF next weekend!    

I am not waiting tell next weekend I guess having cancer and no job yet still has some Bennie's  chef